Shuttleless loom



Aug. 14, 1956 D. SILBERMAN ET AL 2,758,614

SHUTTLELESS LOOM Filed March '7, 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 2 5057/04; 5 l/zz/a/ & M ATTO/P/VE) Aug. 14; 1956 D. SILBERMAN ETAL Filed March 7, 1952 SHUTTLELESS 1.00M

ATTORNEY 4, 1956 D. SILBERMAN ETAL SHUTTLELESS LOOM 11 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 7, 1952 Aug. 14, 1956 D. SILBERMAN ET AL SHUTTLELESS LOOM Filed March 7, 1 952 11 Sheets-Sheet 5 BY &

d EF'QRNEY 7 1955 D. SILBERMAN ET AL I SHUTTLELESS LOOM l1 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March '7, 1952 1956 D.'SILBERMAN ET AL SHUTTLELESS LOOM ll Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed March 7, 1952 INVENTOR DAV/0 Jhasema/v mm m Aug. 14, 1956 D. SILBERMAN ET AL- 2,758,614

SHUTTLELESS LOOM Filed March '7, 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 9 A TTORNEY 1956 D. SILBERMAN ETAL SHUTTLELESS LOOM ll Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed March 7, 1952 A Maw. e Y E E mi. N54 m EMEE T v 0 T m rw A $2 Aug. 14, 1.956 D. SILBERMAN ET A L 2,753,614

SHUTTLEQILESS LOOM Filed March 7, 1952 11 Sheets-Sheet 11 Fu an Q I 'T1:|.E.l

ATTORNEY United States.

SHUTTL'ELESS LOOM David Silberman, New York, and Robert Dellaquila,

Long Island City, N. Y., and Gustave E. Ulrich, Union City, N. J., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Tapes, Inc., Paterson, N. 1., a corporation of Delaware Application March 7, 1952, Serial No. 275,329

Claims. (Cl. 139-124) This invention relates to shuttleless looms of thetype particularly adapted for weaving narrow fabric such as tape, braid, and the like.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a shuttleless loom having a filler thread guide traversable through sheds of warp threads to lay the weft or filler threads according to a pattern having loops along the edges thereof and to engage the loops of one edge with a locking thread so that a selvage edge is formed of a locked loop stitch.

Another object is to provide a lock stitch needle tra-' versable through the selvage loops together with means for causing thread from a separate spool to be fed to and looped around this needle in such manner that it forms stitching through the selvage loops in a direction normal to the direction of laying the weft threads. The selvage loops are thus locked against ravelling by a thread which can be supplied by a full sized spool which requires no attention over long periods of loom operation.

Another object is to provide an improved filler thread capable of shutting oif operation of the loom motors when it breaks.

A further object is to provide a simplified mechanismf according to which the loom may be made small, c0mpact, and economical to construct. more fully appear, the filler guide, packing comb, locking needle and thread control means supplying the locking needles are all operated by a single camshaft. The above objects are thus made possible and further ad; vantages accrue such as the opportunity to time the several cams with respect to each other with much greater facility.

As will be seen more fully hereinafter, this loom lends itself to threading from large spools and for operation for long periods of time without the attention of operator. One operator can therefore, supervise the operation' of a large battery of these looms. The direct labor costs are thus greatly reduced. If some part should break its assembly may be separately dismantled and taken to a machine shop for repair-thus reducing the-indirect labor cost also. I v p u Other objects and advantages will become more fully apparent as reference ishad to the accompanying drawings wherein our invention is illustrated and in which Fig lis a diagrammatic plan view of tape being made according to our invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the lowed by thread in the manufacture of the body of the As will hereinafter paths relthe pattern cam connecting rods and the final guide rolls T'ice '2 tape with the path taken by a separate locking thread being separately shown;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 1 showing the relative position of the needle with respect to the threads from the headles;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of very loosely woven tape, in final form, made according to our invention;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tape being formed, the relative positions of the parts being shown when the comb is in full forward position after the laying of a double weft strand;

Fig. 5a is an enlarged View of a portion of Fig. 5 showing the needle shank with the two thread loops therearound;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the needle in forward position just before engaging the locking thread, the comb being now rearward;

Fig. 6a is an enlarged view of the needle in the position of Fig. 6;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the needle after it has engaged the locking thread;

Fig- 7a is an enlarged view of the needle and filler feeder in the positions of Fig. 7;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the needle as it engages a filler thread and while retaining engagement with the locking thread;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing the needle as it closes preparatory to pulling the filler thread and the catch cord through loops on the shank of theneedle;

Fig. 9a is an enlarged view of the needle in the position of Fig. 9;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of the needle as it is in the process of slipping the two loops left therearound at the end of the previous stitch;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 9 showing the needle after it has formed the lock stitch;

Fig. 11a is an enlarged view of the needle in the position of Fig. 11;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 showing the needle going forward after slipping through the two new loops and prior to being opened thereby, the comb being fully forward;

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12 showing the needle opening and slipping two new loops over its shank, the comb remaining fully forward;

' Fig. 14 is a top plan view of the loom in operation;

Fig. 15 is a side elevation of the loom of Fig. 14 with a'portion of its main side plate being broken away for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 16 is a front elevation of the loom with some 0 omitted;

Fig. 17 is an enlarged front elevation of the final tape guiding rolls;

Fig. 18 is a perspective view of the loom cam shaft;

Fig. 19 is an end elevation of the final guide rolls and gears of Fig. 17;

Fig. 20 is a vertical section taken along the line 20-20 of Fig. 15 showing the guide mechanism of the locking thread;

Fig. 21 is a front elevation of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 20, taken at the left side thereof;

Fig. 22 is a detail vertical section taken along the line 2222 of Fig. 16 showing the relative positions of the comb, stripper, hold down bar and fabric guide plate;

Fig. 23 is a detail vertical section taken along the line 23-23 of Fig. 22; and

Fig. 24 is an enlarged perspective view of the needle holder and needle. In explaining the invention the steps in the formation of a strip-like fabric such as tape or braid will be explained first. Thereafter the loom will be explained.

Fig. 1 shows a multiplicity of threads 1 threaded through a series of headles 2 which are guided by headle guides 3 in vertical pattern forming movements to form the warp of the fabric. A vertical section through the threads, as illustrated in Fig. 3, shows the threads 1 which. come from one headle to form a shed which is parallel to the sheds from each other headle. A filler thread 4 is threaded through a guide 5, the guidemoving back and forth through the sheds coming from the several headles 2 to lay the filler thread in looped paths to form the weft of the fabric. Another thread 6 is the catch cord which is guided by a catch cord guide 7 into timed engagement with the lock stitch needle 8.

Fundamentally, the formation of the weft and the locking stitch isshown in Fig. 2 inwhich the filler thread 4 is carried through the end loop of one strand therebelow and the next strand thereabove by the needle 8. -At the same time the catch cord 6 is formed into a series of loops which are intertwined with the locked loops of the thread 4 to form the loop lock stitch shown in Fig. 4. The manner in which this is done is illustrated in detail in Figs. to 13.

As seen in Figs. 5 and 5a, after thefeeder 5 has laid a double strand of the thread 4 through the warp threads 1 the needle 8 is moving rearwardly through the loop of the thread 4 and through a loop 10 of the catch cord 6. The comb or reed 11 is in the position of packing the filler strand into place against the fabric 12 already made.

In Fig. 5 the needle 8 is illustrated as progressing on its rearward stroke in open position. In Fig. 6 this needle has almost reached its rearmost position. The catch cord guide 7 has a vertically arcuate movement and is illustrated as being about halfway through :its upward movement. The comb 11 is now in rearward position. When the guide 7 reaches the top of its movement as illustrated in Fig. 7, it has carried the catch cord over the open end of the needle 8, the needle 8 by this time having reached the rearmost position of its travel. The filler thread feeder has now carried a new pass through the weft threads. As the needle 8 moves forwardly it retains engagement with the catch cord 6 and also engages the forward strand of the thread 4. As this happens, it will be noted particularly in Fig. 80 that the closing element 13 of the needle 8 is sliding on the loops 9 and 10 around the needle so that as the needle 8 continues its forward movement to the position shown in Fig. 9 and 9a the closing element 13 rotates on its pivot 14 thus closing the end of the needle 8.

Continued forward movement of the needle 8 thus causes it to carry the catch cord 6 and the lower strand of the new pass of the filler thread 4 into and then completely through the loops 9 and 10, as shown in Figs. 10, 11 and lla. In Fig. 11 it is seen that the feeder 5 has begun its withdrawal through the warp threads. It then completes its withdrawal after the loops 9 and 10 are slipped off the needle thus putting tension on the strand leading to the loop 9 which will thereby pull it and the loop 10 closely against the selvage edge of the fabric. The new strands are pulled beneath a guide or holddown bar 16 and against a stripper plate 17.

The needle 8 dwells momentarily at the end of its forward stroke so that the cord 4 may be tensioned thus pulling the old loops 9 and 10 against the selvage edge and so that the comb 11 may pack the new strands be fore the needle can move them out of place.

When the needleS now goes rearwardly on a new stroke thatportion of the threads 4 and 6 which are caught in the closed end of the needle stay substantially in the position illustrated in Figs. 11 and 11a, the needle 8 in moving rearwardly thus passes through them, causing the closure elements 13 to open and we have two 4 new loops, the same as loops 9 and 10 around the needle as illustrated in Fig. 12 and 13.

The loom will now be described.

The base of the loom is composed, essentially, of several cross members 18 from which the side plates 19 and 20 arise. Journaled in the side plates is a cam shaft 21 which projects outwardly through the side plate 20 to receive a driving pulley 22 adapted to be driven by a motor (not shown). This shaft is separately shown in Fig. 18 in which it is seen that it carries a cam 23 the function of which is to actuate the filler thread feeder. This cam has a track to receive a roller 24 rotatably mounted on a feeder actuating arm 25, The arm 25 is pivotally mounted at its lower end on a rockshaft 26 mounted in a bracket 27, the bracket being secured to the mainside plate 20 (Fig. 15). As seen in Fig. l6, rotation of the cam 23 causes the arm 25 to oscillate on the shaft in a vertical are parallel to the plane of the paper.

The arm 25 is forked at its upper end 27 to form a sliding yoke connection with a slide 28 mounted on a sliding base member 29 which carries the filler thread guide 5 and which has a linear path normal to the direction of movements of the warp threads. The path of the movement of the sliding member 29 is defined by the guides 29a supported by the bracket 98 as shown in Figs. 14 and 15.

Thus, as the cam 23 rotates this arm 25 is oscillated in a vertical are which causes reciprocation of the filler threadguide 5 in a path parallel to the plane of the paper of Figure 16. It is to be noted that the guide 5 is elongated and projects well ahead of the base member 29 so thatit may travel back and forth through the sheds of the warp, as indicated in Figs. 6, 8, 9 and ll, the outer end of this guide having an eye 30 through which the filler thread is threaded.

The second cam 31 on the shaft 21 has the function of actuating the reed or comb 11. This cam has a track to engage a roller 32 carried on the outer end of a bell crank lever 33, this lever being rockably mounted on a supporting shaft 34 which is supported by the side plates 19 and 20. The outer end of the lever 33 carries the reed or comb 11 so that rotation of the cam 31 causes oscillation of the lever 33 in a vertical arc and movement .of the reed 11 toward and away from the eye of the reader as viewed in Fig. 16.

A third cam 35 on the shaft 21 has the function of actuating the catch cord needle 8. It has a cam track engaged by a roller 36 which is carried by the outer endof a bell crank 37 rockably mounted on the supporting shaft 34. The outer end of the bellcrank is bolted to bracket 38 to which a needle holding block 39 is bolted. The catch cord needle 8 is held against the bottom of the block 39 by a plate 40. The block 39, the needle 8and the plate 40 are shown in enlarged perspective in Fig. 24. Rotation of the cam 35 causes oscillation of the lever 37 and movement of the needle 8 toward and away from the eye of the reader, as viewed in Fig. 16 and parallel to the plane of the paper as viewed in. Fig. 15.

A fourth cam 41 on the shaft 21 has the function of actuating the catch cord guide 7. This cam has a track to receive a roller 42 carried on the lower end of an actuator rod or pitman 43 having a slot 44 (Fig. 15) enveloping the camshaft 21 to permit vertical movement thereof. To the .upper end of the pitrnan 43 an extension arm 45 is bolted and a cam arm 46 is pivotally attached at 101 to this arm 45. The arm 45 is guided inv itsmovements by a stationary bracket 47 based on the frame plate 19 and is provided with a recess 48 to receive a spring 49. The arm 46 is provided with a similar recess 50 to receive the other end of the spring 49 sothat the arm 46 is urged away from the arm 45 as best seen in the enlarged detail Fig. 20.

'The arm 46 extends through slots 51 in the bracket 47 and has a cam roller 52 mounted thereon for contact with a vertical cam 53 integral with the closure plate of the bracket 47. The catch cord guide 7 extends :through a slot in the closure plate.

As the cam 41 rotates the shaft 43 is reciprocated vertically causing the roller 52 to ride up and down on the cam 53 which causes oscillation of the arm 46 through a vertical arc paralleling the plane of the paper, as viewed in Fig. 20, while reciprocating vertically. This causes a similar travel by the catch cord guide 7 so that its end, through the eye '54 of which the catch cord guide 6 is threaded, travels through the vertical are 56. In Fig. 20 the arcuated path of the guide 7 is shown in relation to the path of the needle 8, it being here seen how the catch cord is carried above and over the needle to perform the step described in connection with the description of Figures 6 and 7.

.The camshaft 21 has a driving gear 57 keyed thereon in engagement with a gear 58 keyed on a shaft 59 journalled in the plates 1'9 and 20. This shaft 59 has the pattern earns 60 keyed thereon, the function of which isto actuate the headle frames 2 in timed relation. Each of these cams has a cam track 61 (Fig. 15) for receiving roller 62 each of which is rotatably mounted on the end of a long lever 63 pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on a supporting shaft 64 supported by the side plates 19 and 20. The other end of each lever 63 is pivotally attached to the bottom of a headle 2, as best shown in Fig. 15. Figure 16 shows only one cam 60 connected to a headle 2 but it will be understood that all, or as many as are necessary for a given pattern of weaving, are connected to other headles 2. It will thus be seen that rotation of the cams 60 by the gears 57 and 58 causes oscillation of the levers 63 through vertical arcs thus vertically reciprocating the headles 2. do

The two side plates 19 and 20 are connected across the top by two side-by-side plates 65. A slide receiving plate 66 is secured to the top of one plate and support 68 for the comb 11 which is held thereagainst by the bevelled retainers 67 (Fig. 23). Above the level of the comb support 68 is a guide plate 69 on which the fabric, as it is finished, is pulled forwardly of the loom by engagement between two rollers 70 and 71. The fabric, which is indicated by the numeral 12, passes between the guide plate 69 and the hold down bar 16, the location of which is shown in enlargened view in Figures 5, 22 and 23. The two fabric drawing or feeding rollers 70 and 7.1 are carried by shafts 72 and 73, respectively, as best seen in Fig. 14. The shaft 72 has a gear 74 thereon which engages an idler gear 75 which, in turn engages a driving gear 76 keyed to a shaft 77 journalled in the side plates 19 and 20. These gears are all located adjacent the plate 19. On the other end of the shaft 77 a ratchet wheel 78 is keyed. A pawl 79 pivotally mounted on a rocking lever 80 (Fig. 15) is spring pressed into engagement with the ratchet wheel 78 by a spring 81 and driven thereby as the lever 80 rocks on its pivotal mounting 82 in consequence of an oscillating movement imparted to its lower end by engagement of a roller 83 carried thereby with a cam 84. The cam 84 is mounted on the end of the pattern cam shaft '59 which, as stated, is driven by the gears 57 and 58. A spring 85 anchored :at one end to the lever 80 and at its other end to the bearing housing 86 of the shaft '59 (Fig. 14) urges the roller 83 in constant pressure contact with the cam 84.

Thus as the cam 84 is rotated by the shaft 59 it rocks the lever 80 thus causing a partial rotation of the ratchet wheel 78 by each such actuation. The roller 70, which is preferably knurled, is thus given similar actuations. The tape 12 which lies over this roller is pressed against the roller 71, which is preferably rubber covered, by the action of spring 87 supported on a stationary bracket 88 the compression of which may be varied by manual rotation of an adjustment screw 89. The tape 12, as best seen in Fig. 15 thus is allowed to fall vertically downwardly after passing through these rollers.

The path of the threads through the-loom will now be traced, attention being called particularly to Fig. 14.

The warp threads 1 originate from spools or packages (not shown) where they are first threaded through the headles 2 then lead between the hold down bar 16 and the guide plate 69 thence between the rollers 70 and 71. The intermittent partial rotation of the gears 74, 75 and 76 thus determine the rate at which the warp threads pass through the loom and the timing of the headle movements with respect to each other and with respect to the movements of the filler feeder determine the pattern of weaving.

The tiller thread 4 originates from a spool or package 90 at the rear of the loom where it is led over a roller 91 thence through a tension device 92 controlled by a spring 93. If the thread breaks the spring 93 loses its stress and its reduction in size may then be used to actuate a switch to stop the operation of the loom. Since micro switches and such devices are well known in the art none is here illustrated. The thread 4 is lead from the tension device through the eye 30 of the filler thread guide 5 and thence back and forth continuously between the warp threads 1 in order to form the filler or weft of the tape or fabric 12. Each pass of the guide 5 between the warp threads forms a loop at the selvage edge of the tape.

The batch cord 6 originates from a spool or package 94 from where it is lead over a guide roller 95 thence through a tensioning device 96 of the same type as the tensioning device 92, having a spring 97 which may similarly be used to control a switch to stop operation of the loom if this thread breaks. The thread 6 is then threaded through the eye 54 of the catch cord guide 7 thence around the needle 8, thence to the selvage edge for continuous incorporation as a part thereof. When the needle begins its forward travel its end engages the catch cord 6 and one of the two strands of the last formed loop of the filler thread to form the loop-lock stitch previously described.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention and we, therefore, desire to be extended protection as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. In a loom, the combination of a catch cord needle and means for guiding a catch cord for engagement with said needle for locking weft stitches against ravelling comprising a driven shaft, an eccentric keyed to said shaft for rotation therewith, a pitman operatively connected to said eccentric and to a catch cord guide comprising a rod having an eye in its outer end through which the catch cord is threaded, a stationary bracket fixed to the loom having a slot therethrough, said pitman extending into said slot whereby said bracket guides the free end of said pitman and said guide, said bracket deflecting said guide laterally while guiding its vertical movements causing the outer end of said guide to reciprocate through a vertical arc whereby the catch cord threaded through said guide may be carried above and across said needle for engagement thereby.

2. In :a loom, the combination of a catch cord needle and means for guiding a catch cord into engagement therewith for engagement with loops of weft threads comprising a driven loom shaft having a cam keyed thereon, a pitman operatively engaging said cam for vertical reciprocation thereof, a stationary bracket mounted on the loom having a slot to receive and to guide said pitman, an arm pivotally connected to said pitman also extending upwardly into said bracket, a vertical cam carried by said bracket, a spring separating the upper ends of said am and said pitman urging said arm into constant engagement with said vertical cam whereby the upper end of said arm oscillates, through an arc in. a plane normal to its vertical reciprocations, a catch cord guide secured o said arm and extending outwardly of said bracket, said guide=having an eyetherethrough for insertion. of a catch cord, said guide describing a vertical are during each reciprocation of said pitman and said armthereby con: ducting, said catch cord into position for intermittent engagement by said needle, and means reciprocating said needle in timed relation with the movements of. said guide.

3. In aloom, the combination of acatch cord needle and means for guiding a catch cord; for engagement with said needle for locking weft stitches:againstravelling comprising a driven haf an ecc ntric k yed t s i sh ft for rotation therewith, a pitman operatively connected. to said eccentric and to a catch cord gu d comp ising a. ro having an: eye in its outer end; through whic the catch cord is threaded, a stationary bracket fixed to the, loom having. aslot therethrough, said pitman extending into said slot whereby said bracket guides; the free end of said,

pitman and said guide, said bracket deflecting said guide laterally while guiding its vertical movements causing the outer. end of said guide to reciprocate through a vertical arc whereby the catch cord threaded through said guide may be carried above and across said needle for engagement thereby, a second eccentric keyed to said driven shaft and means connecting said second eccentric to said needle for reciprocation thereof in timed relation with the movements of said guide.

4. In a loom for weaving narrow fabric, means comprising headl'es and feed rollers for causing movement of warp threads through a loom, a filler thread guide movable transversely through difl'erent sheds of said warp threads to lay a double strand of filler threads therebetween with a loop at the salvage edge of the fabric, a needle having a lineally extending shank disposed alongside said selvage edge, means for reciprocating said needle in one direction to cause its shank to engage the loop of the filler-and in the reverse direction to engage the next succeeding loop, a catch cord extending from a source of supply to looped relation also with the shank of said needle and thence to said selvage edge, means guiding said needle during movement in said reverse direction for engaging said catch cord, said needle in completing its movement in said reverse direction operating. to pull said last-named filler thread loop and said catch cord through the loops around its shank while slipping out of engagement with said. last-named loops, means for arresting the; movement of said needle, said filler guide including. means for tensioning the slipped filler loop against, said selvage edge. during the arrested condition of the needle, a comb movable into contact with the last laid filler thread, after tensioning by said filler guide, means for moving said needle thereafter in the first-named direction while the filler thread and the catch cord in engagement therewith slide along its shank to form two new loops therearound, said comb maintaining its position of contact with the last laid filler throughout the major portion of the movement of said needle in said first-named direction and thereafter moving out of contact therewith.

5. In a loom, the combination of a catch cord, needle, means for guiding a catch cord into engagement with said needle for engagement with loops of weft threads, said means including a driven loom shaft having a cam keyed thereon, a pitman operatively engaging said cam for. vertical reciprocation thereof, a stationary bracket mounted on the loom having a vertical cam thereon, guide means maintaining the upper end of said pitman in contact with said vertical cam whereby the upper end of said pitman is caused to oscillate laterally during vertical reciprocations thereof, a catch cord guide mounted horizontally in the upper end of said pitman, means for reciprocating said guide through a vertical are, means reciprocating said needle in a direction normal to the plane of the are described by said guide, the vertical arc of movement of said guide extending above and below the line of movement of said needle, means for arresting said needle at the end of its travel in the direction of said guide while said guide describes said are and means threading said catch cord through said guide whereby the catch cord is caused to engage the end of said needle immediately prior to movement of said needle away from said guide.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,141,665 Stewart June 1, 1915 1,296,025 Waite Mar. 4, 1919 1,604,365 Mutzberg Oct. 26, 1926 1,634,411 Fefel July 5, 1927 2,471,758 Libby May 31, 1949 

